Wild Night in Arcadia
by TeachingGods
Summary: Dani and Nicky have a new research project. This time they, along with Dani's little brother Tommy, will be going to find baby Hermes and watch him steal his big brother Apollo's cattle. Hoping their presence doesn't change the outcome.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, Dani here. Tommy, Nicky and I have been at _it_ again. In case you don't know what _it_ is, last year my best friend Nicky and I had to do a history report on Gilgamesh. No big deal you may think, but as part of our research, we came across an incantation that sent us back in time. How far back you ask? Nicky, my little brother Tommy and I went to somewhere in neighborhood of 2500BC. We met King Gilgamesh of Uruk, went with him on a quest to obtain the secret of immortality, and helped him to understand that living forever wasn't the only way to become immortal.

This time we were studying Ancient Greece. Our assignment was to pick a god or goddess and do a report on them. This time, I picked Hermes before anybody else could get it. I didn't want to get stuck with somebody lame like Hephaestus. Get it, lame, because Hephaestus is crippled. Anyway, I knew as soon as Mr. Reed, our World History teacher, said _report_, we would go back in time again to get the details. After all, if Gilgamesh and his gods were real, why wouldn't Zeus and his kids be real?

That afternoon Nicky and I waited on the front porch for Tommy to get home from soccer practice, so we could tell him about our assignment. He was instrumental to our very survival when we went to Sumer, so even though he just turned 11, we wouldn't consider going back in time without him. After dinner that night, which just happened to be Friday, we went to my room to do research on the Internet, or so we told our mom and Nicky's dad. See Nicky and his dad live in the bottom half of our duplex in Sarasota. Mom, Tommy and I live in the top half.

"So are we going to go now?" Tommy asked, so excited he was actually bouncing on my bed.

"What if one of them comes to check on us?" Nicky asked.

"Look, I think we should really do our homework first this time. We'll find out what we can about Hermes tonight then tomorrow when Mom goes to the grocery, we'll go back in time," I suggested. Last time we didn't know anything about Gilgamesh when we went back in time, but luckily I had a book about the king in my hand when we read the incantation, so we crammed before we found him. This time, I wanted to have a clue before we left.

We found a lot of information about the son of Zeus on the Internet. We learned about him being the messenger, delivery boy if you will, of the gods. As it turns out he was also a messenger between the gods and mortals. We found out he help Perseus get to Medusa, he gave Odysseus some magic herbs that cured his men when Circe turned them into pigs, he also made Calypso let Odysseus and his men leave her island, he killed Argos, the hundred-eyed guard, he took the King of Troy safely across the battlefield to retrieve his son's body, and he created the ram with the golden fleece to save a couple of little kids from being sacrificed. We also learned that Hermes had lots of kids including Pan, the god of the wild, and Hermaphroditus, his part son/part daughter that he had with Aphrodite. By far though, the most interesting thing Hermes did was what he did just after he was born. We decided that was the time we wanted to return to.

It was hard for me to sleep that night. I was excited and a little nervous about what we were going to do the next day. The first time, we didn't have time to think about what we were doing. No sooner had Nicky found the incantation in a dusty old book then we were in Sumer walking through the desert. This time was different. We would be going into this quest with a lot more information, but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. Hermes might be immortal, but we certainly were not. When I finally did fall asleep, I had a strange dream. I was walking up a steep path on a mountain. I was almost to the top, when I heard a sound. I stop and waited to see if I could see anything. It was very dark. I only had the stars in the sky to light my way. After several minutes of not seeing or hearing anything else, I started climbing again. When I finally reached the top, I stopped to catch my breath and took a seat on a rock near the opening of a cave. I was still sitting there when an animal came out to the cave. No, not an animal, a man. He was wearing Greek robes and had curly black hair and a full beard. I thought he saw me, but before I could say anything, he turned into an eagle and flew quickly away. Once it was quiet again, I heard a woman's voice coming from inside the cave. I went inside to see if she was alright because it sounded like she was crying.

I found this beautiful woman lying on some bedding in the back of the cave. She was startled when she saw me, but when she noticed I was a girl, she relaxed. "Are you alright?" I asked her going to her side.

"Yes, little one. You should not be here," he said softly.

"That man, did he hurt you?" I continued ignoring her warning.

"Hurt, no though I did not ask for his visit," she said. "I thought I had hidden myself far enough away. I was wrong."

"Was that Lord Zeus?" I asked since he turned into an eagle.

"Yes, now I must worry about Lady Hera and her rage," the woman said sounding scared.

"You are Maia," I said, "Daughter of Atlas."

"You know much little one," she said, "But knowledge is not always a safe thing."

"I'll be okay," I says, "After all, I'm not really here. I'm asleep in my bed at home in Florida."

"Florida," she says like she's never heard the name before. "Is that close to Sparta?"

"No, it's a long way from Sparta," I said with a chuckle. Just then I woke to a knock on my bedroom door.

"Dani, you need to sort out your laundry," my mom called from the doorway. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had just been dreaming.

"Sure thing, Mom," I called back then got out of bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Once Tommy and I had started the laundry and Mom had left for the grocery store, Nicky was sitting at our dining room table ready to go to Greece.

"Did you bring the copies," I asked referring to the copies of the incantations that got us to and from Sumer. He made them at the library after we returned, so we could use them again. He patted his jeans pocket to indicate that he did.

"What is your dad doing?" Tommy asked wanting to make sure he didn't come looking for us.

"He's working today," Nicky said assuring us he wouldn't be a problem.

"Let's go then," Tommy said excitedly. I nodded my head and Nicky pulled the papers from his pocket. I pretty much had the thing memorized, but I still read from the paper just to make sure I didn't mess it up.

History is all around

Within these walls it will abound

But nothing here will serve as well

As going to that time to dwell

If courage you have and knowledge you seek

Continue on, these words to speak

Lead me to the ancient time

When I complete this ancient rhyme

This time when the dizzying effect of time travel started, we were all expecting it. I was spinning and tumbling with Tommy in front of me and Nicky right behind. Maybe because I was used to it, it didn't seem like it lasted as long this time. When we came to a stop, we were sitting on a narrow ledge outside the opening of a cave. It was almost dawn, and in the light, I recognized the place. It was the same cave I saw in my dream the night before. I realized at that moment that I hadn't told either of the boys anything about it.

"Let's go inside," Tommy whispered.

"No wait. I need to tell you guys something," I said grabbing Tommy's arm. I quickly told them what happened in my dream. I explained about seeing Zeus come from the cave, and finding a crying Maia in the back. I was just telling them about my conversation with the Pleiade when we heard a baby start crying.

"Hermes?" Nicky asked.

"Has to be," Tommy said excitedly. "Let's go."

There was no holding him back this time. The three of us quietly went into the dark cave to find the newborn god and his mother. Maia had her back to us as she placed little Hermes into his crib, which was just a big basket. We stayed back in the shadows and watched.

"Now my little precious. You must sleep while mommy rests. I must have my strength to deal with Lady Hera when she finds out about you," the new mother said softly. Once Hermes was being nice and quiet, Maia went over to her bed and laid down.

None of us made a move. We knew Maia was going to go to sleep, so we figured it was a good idea to stay out of sight until she did. We weren't expecting it when the baby jumped up in his bed after about five minutes. "Is she asleep yet?" he asked as if he knew we were there.

"I think so," Tommy whispered back figuring that if his mom was awake she would have said something when he asked the question. Hermes, wearing nothing but a cloth diaper, started climbing over the edge of the basket. Even though I knew he was a god and capable of much more than climbing from his bed, seeing a newborn doing this freaked me out.

"Be careful," I said running toward him to help him down.

"Thanks little lady," he said when I set him down on the ground. "I'm Hermes," the baby said taking a bow, "Who might you three be?"

"I'm Dani," I said bowing to him.

"Tommy," my brother said stepping forward and shaking the baby's hand.

"I'm Nicky," Nicky said also giving the god a respectful bow. "Wow you really are up and about right after being born," my best friend continued in shock.

"Daylight's burning," Hermes said with a grin, "Why don't we go see what we can get into."

"We'll follow you," Tommy said with his own grin.

Once we were outside of the cave, Hermes took a deep breath then let out a sigh. "Oh look," he said excitedly spying a tortoise slowly making his way across the path. The baby quickly picked the creature up and looked at it closely. "Lucky me," he said holding his little finger out toward the animal's mouth. When it snapped at him, he got a sparkle in his eye. "I know exactly what to do with you."

"What?" Tommy asked. I gave him a look like, _you know exactly what he's going to do_, but Tommy ignored me.

"Oh, that's a secret, but trust me it will be beautiful," Hermes said. The baby then picked up a rock and smashed the creatures head.

"That was brutal," Nicky said a little amazed that he had the strength to do it. Hermes just looked up at Nicky and smiled.

"Aw, gross," I said when he started gutting the thing.

"Living, this creature will hinder me with my trickery, but dead, it shall help me greatly," Hermes told me.

"It's still gross," I repeated pulling my shirt up over my nose to try and mask the smell of turtle guts.

When he was finished cleaning it out, he tucked the shells of the dead tortoise under his arm and said, "It's a gorgeous day for a walk don't you think?" He was looking ahead instead of at any of us as if he was already planning his next move.

"You bet," Nicky said, and with that agreement, Hermes started walking. Amazingly it didn't take us any time at all to get down the mountain. I'm sure being with a god had everything to do with that. I personally didn't see any signs of civilization even from the top of the mountain, so I had no idea how far we would have to walk to find Apollo's cattle.

After several minutes, Tommy said, "So Hermes, do you have any idea where we're going?"

"No, but something good will come along," the baby replied, "Something like that." He pointed to another mountain in the distance. "I sense something godly on that mountain," he continued then hurried ahead.

"Wait up," Tommy called and ran after him. Nicky and I sped up, but we didn't run. We figured as long as we could see Hermes and Tommy we wouldn't lose them, and we could talk without being heard.

"That little guy is amazing," Nicky said once they were out of earshot.

"No kidding," I agreed. "Even when you know what he's going to do, it's something else to see him do it."

"Tommy is having good time," he said.

"Always," I agreed then motioned that we'd better speed up because we were losing them.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Nicky and I caught up to Tommy and Hermes, the infant god had already found the cattle of the gods. There were all kinds of herds grazing on the fields that dotted the edge of the mountain. "Look at those sheep," Tommy said pointing out the smaller animals running around the pasture.

"Cute but not what we're after," Hermes said going past them to the cattle beyond.

"Where are we?" I asked curiously.

Hermes looked up like he expected a road sign to appear above his head then said, "Pieria."

"How do you know that?" Nicky asks surprised. "You were just born, how could you know anything at all?"

"My dad's pretty smart," the little god answered completely unoffended by the questions. "He's not going to have me be stupid now is he?"

"So what exactly are we after?" I asked not knowing which cattle were Apollo's.

"See those red cows," Hermes said pointing his tiny finger.

"The big ones," Tommy said clearly wondering how even with four of us we were going to take some of those.

"That's what we're after," the god continued then walked over to them. He started pointing them out as he assigned each one of them a number, and when he got to 50, he said, "You all follow me." I laughed out loud, but to my astonishment, the cattle he gave numbers to actually started following him.

"We're just going to walk back with 50 head of cattle?" Nicky asked since Hermes had selected cows and bulls.

"Course not, my big brother's not stupid either," he said stopping near a big tree on the edge of the field. He grabbed some chunks of bark from the tree and started strapping them to his feet with some vine.

"Should we be doing that?" Tommy asked kneeling next to little Hermes watching him intently.

"You've already got funny looking things on your feet, but you can if you want," the baby said, which was all the invite Tommy needed. Nicky and I finally decided what the heck. If we were going to be in on this caper, we might as well go all the way. Once the four of us were shod in bark shoes, we started walking again.

"If your brother is so smart," Tommy asked after a couple of minutes, "Won't he just be able to follow the cattle tracks?" Hermes looked at him as if he hadn't thought of that then apparently had an epiphany.

"Stop!" he shouted at the cattle. "Stop, stop, I need all of you to stop," he cried out getting all 50 head to stop in their tracks. "Turn around," he told them, and I wondered what he was doing. Was he having second thoughts? Was our being here changing what was going to happen?

"Are we taking them back?" I asked.

"Of course not," he said with a smile. "I just have a plan. Walk backwards. I need all of you to walk backwards." Amazingly the cattle all started walking backwards. Now I've seen a lot of funny things in my life, especially on our trip to Sumer, but 50 cows walking backward along a trail has to take the cake. Nicky was just shaking his head in disbelief as Tommy and baby Hermes ran along beside the cattle hurrying them up, so we wouldn't get caught.

"Are we going back the same way we came," Tommy asked after several more minutes.

"No, I can't take the herd back home. I'll get in trouble with my mom," Hermes says. "I'll have to find a good place for them. Look there's sand over there, if we lead the cattle through that, the wind will cover our tracks," he said now running off in another direction.

"Is it possible that Lord Hermes was the first case of ADHD?" Nicky whispered to me as we walked along behind the herd or in front of it as the case may be.

"Maybe," I agreed. I knew a lot of kids at school who took meds for the condition and a lot more that probably should. Hermes was a lot like them.

We walked along for a long time without any commotion. I was beginning to think this was too easy and that Apollo should be ashamed of himself for letting his cattle get stolen so easily. I guess I must have jinxed us though, because as soon as I thought it, and old man called out to us.

"What are you doing there?" he yelled from the doorway of his dwelling. Of course, little baby Hermes was quick to take action.

"Hello there," he said walking over to the old man. "Who are you old man?"

"I am Battus. Who are you?" the old man replied.

"That is not important, but you can tell I am a god," little Hermes told him.

"It would appear to be true," Battus agreed, "For who but a god could do such a thing."

"It is important to me that you repeat to no one that you have seen me and my friends or this fine herd. I am willing to make it worth it for you to remain silent, if you swear to do so," the baby told the old man.

"What could I need from a god?" the old man said, but clearly he wanted to be rewarded.

"You may pick the finest of this herd as payment for your silence," the god told him waiting for a reply.

After a few minutes of either contemplating if Hermes was serious or picking out which head he wanted, Battus finally agreed. He would accept the cow as payment for his silence. The old man selected his choice of animal and lead it into his own pasture then we continued on our way.

"You think he'll really keep his mouth shut?" Tommy asked as we walked along.

"Of course not, but I have another plan," Hermes said calling the cattle to a halt once again.

"What are you going to do, Lord Hermes," Nicky asked.

"I need to go test him," the little god said then before our eyes changed into an old man himself.

I myself let out a startled yelp when the god changed his entire form right in front of us, but Tommy gave him his standard response to something he really likes, "Sweet!"

"I need all of you to wait for me here," he told us, and of course we all agreed. After all, where were we going to go with 49 red cows.

Hermes was probably gone for only half an hour before he, in baby form once again, came walking back toward us with the red cow following behind him. "What happened?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately for him, he did not pass my test," the little god said, and he really did seem to be upset.

"Um, what happened to him?" Nicky asksed.

"I'd rather not say," the baby told him then continued walking.

It wasn't long after that before we came upon a field that Hermes decided was a good place to keep the cattle. The four of us ushered them into an empty pen and got the gate fastened. Nicky and I then climbed up on the rail of the pen and watched as Hermes walked around the field with Tommy right by his side.

"He's actually really sweet," I said.

"He's also very dangerous," Nicky reminded me.

"I know," I said. "Do you remember reading what he did to that old man?" I continued.

"No, you?"

"He turned him to stone," I said softly so Tommy and Hermes wouldn't hear me.

"I guess when you make a deal with a god, especially Hermes, you'd better keep it," Nicky said like Battus had no one to blame but himself. I thought about it then decided he was right.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are we going back to your mom now?" Tommy asked Hermes after the cattle were all safe.

"No, I have to do something first," he answers then led one cow out of the pen and over to the river nearby.

"We'll help. What do you want us to do?" I told him jumping down from the rail and walking toward him. Nicky followed me.

"I have to do this part on my own," little Hermes said. I didn't see him grab a knife from anywhere. Honestly I have no idea where it came from, but when he slashed the cow's throat and it went down, I knew he had one.

"Are you sure we can't help?" Nicky asked after several minutes.

"Maybe, could you guys start a fire?" Hermes suggested as he continued to work on cutting up the cow.

"Sure thing," Nicky said then the three of us spread out to collect what dry wood we could find. In the half hour it took us to gather wood and start a fire, which Hermes helped us with, he had killed a bull as well, skinned both animals and divided the meat into twelve portions. I have no idea how he worked that fast.

"So why twelve portions?" Tommy asked after counting the piles.

Hermes was busy preparing for something important, but he did take the time to tell us what it was. "I have to make a sacrifice to each Olympian," he said then brought the first section of meat over to the fire. "Oh mighty Zeus, my father, accept my sacrifice in your honor," he said tossing the gift into the flames.

I looked at Nicky and was about to whisper something to him when Tommy whispered something to me. "If he was just born, who's the twelfth Olympian?" It was exactly what I was thinking. I knew from our lessons that before Dionysus, Hestia was on the council, but I didn't think Hermes had replaced anyone.

Baby Hermes continued making his sacrifices, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Athena, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Artemis and then Apollo. We waited to see who the final sacrifice would be for. When he said, "Oh great me," we all snickered. He looked over at the three of us and winked as he went on.

Now that Hermes had completed his sacrifices, Tommy turned into a chatter box. Everything the little god did, Tommy questioned. "What are you doing with that?" Tommy asked when Hermes took sections of intestine and cut it into strips.

"I'm making an instrument," the little guy said.

"Sweet, can I help?" Tommy asked.

"Sure, I need those horns over there and a sturdy stick," Hermes said. Tommy jumped up and grabbed the horns from the bull then started walking around looking for a stick. Nicky and I sat and watched the two of them work. They put the tortoise shell together with the horns sticking up from each side. They ran them through the holes the tortoise had used for its front legs. Hermes then attached the stick across the top of the horns using strips of cow guts. Once the frame work was all together, Hermes started attaching the sections of intestine he had previously cut.

"How many are you gonna put on?" Tommy asked.

"Nine," Hermes said as he continued to work.

"Why nine?" Tommy asked.

"One for each of the muses," Hermes told him.

"How are you going to play it?" Tommy asked, like I said _chatter box_.

"Each string will have a different sound when it is plucked," the young god said.

"Okay, how will you do that?"

"It will depend on how thick the string is and how tight I fasten it."

It only took him about fifteen minutes to attach each of the strings to the instrument that of course I knew to be a lyre. I waited to hear him play it, but he didn't. When the instrument was finished, he let out a big yawn then told us it was time to go home. "I think I've done enough for my first day."

"Do you want me to carry you?" I offered. I couldn't help it, he was a little newborn baby and now he was looking sleepy.

"No, I can make it," he insisted and we all started back toward his mom's cave.

When we got back, I figured Lady Maia would be awake and worried sick, but she was still sound asleep. Either having a god baby took a lot out of her or Hermes had done something to make sure she slept the entire time he was gone. I was more inclined to believe the latter. Hermes climbed back into his basket-crib, wrapped the blanket back around him and went to sleep while the three of us waited for his mom to wake up.

"I can't believe he did all of that," Tommy, who was sitting between Nicky and me, whispered.

"I wonder if the other gods did anything like this on the day they were born," I whispered back. Nicky shrugged to show he doubted it.

It had only been about twenty minutes since we had returned, when there was a loud voice calling from the cave door. "Where is the little thief!" a man shouted. We knew it had to be Apollo, and he was mad. Maia woke at the sound of the shouting and was in the process of getting up with Apollo charged into the cave. "Where is the boy?" he shouted again.

"Lord Apollo, what is it? What is the matter?" Maia asked trying to calm him down.

"My cattle have been stolen, and your son Hermes did it," the god insisted.

"Apollo this cannot be," she said softly trying to calm him down. "He is just an infant. Come, look upon his sweet face. There is no way he could do what you are saying. He is innocent."

"He is _not_ innocent, Maia," he insists then noticed us for the first time. "Who are you?" he asked looking confused.

"We...Um," Nicky said trying to come up with some explanation. Guess we didn't think about explaining ourselves when Hermes' brother showed up pissed off about his cows.

"You little one," Maia said looking at me like she recognized me.

"Lady Maia," I said.

"You were here last night," she said looking over at her bed where I had talked to her.

"But it was just a dream," I said not believing that somehow I had in fact come back in time in a dream.

"Did you have anything to do with him stealing my cattle?" Apollo now asked us. "Was this your idea?"

"No it wasn't our idea," Nicky said, which was the complete truth. Even though we knew what little Hermes was going to do, we never put any ideas into his little head.

"Wake up Hermes!" Apollo screamed at his little brother. "Explain yourself." I could tell Hermes had started moving around in the basket because the basket itself started moving. "Wake up!" Apollo shouted again kicking at the basket.

"Do not hurt him," Maia shouted then crabbed her son up into her arms. "My sweet little baby, tell Lord Apollo you had nothing to do with this," she whispered to Hermes.

"How could I Mommy? I'm just a tiny little newborn. I couldn't possibly have done what Apollo charges me with," Hermes said, and god he did such a good job even I almost believed him, and I was with him almost the entire time.

"You lie," Apollo said.

"Prove it," Hermes told him sharply then in a softer tone said, "You cannot because I am an innocent little baby." Apollo's face was turning red. He was so mad, but he must have been thinking his little brother was right. How would he prove it?

"What is this?" Apollo said picking up the lyre Hermes had laid by his crib. "This is proof. This is from my cattle. These horns and this string."

"What makes you think that didn't come from some other animal," Tommy asked trying to stand up for Hermes. I quickly put my hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"The three of you, you were in on this. You helped him," Apollo said angrily. "I shall take all of you to face Lord Zeus."

"What?" I said shocked. "We..."

"Silence," Apollo yelled, so of course I shut up. Apollo turned back to Maia and said, "Bring the child." Then he grabbed Nicky by the arm and hauled us out to his chariot.


	5. Chapter 5

If I wasn't suddenly worried that Zeus was going to zap all of us with his lightning bolt, I might have really enjoyed riding in a chariot with such a cute guy. I mean, the statues you see of him make him look good, but they don't really do him justice. He was my ideal guy. He had curly dark hair, big dark eyes, a perfect smile, a perfect body. He was wearing next to nothing, so I could see a lot of his body. Nicky kept poking me in the side to get me to stop looking at him. Apollo wasn't the sun god yet, I guess Helios still had that job, so his chariot was big enough to carry all of us. The entire time Maia kept insisting that her precious baby Hermes was innocent, and Apollo kept telling her to save it for Zeus.

When we arrived on Mount Olympus, Zeus and Hera were sitting on their thrones. I don't know if they knew we were coming, but they didn't really seem surprised. At least Zeus didn't. "Lord Zeus, Father," Apollo said walking to the king's throne.

"Why are you here, son," Zeus said looking at the three of us instead of his boys.

"Father, I have come seeking justice. 50 head of my sacred cattle have been stolen. It could have been no one other then your son Hermes," the young god explains.

"Your son?" Hera said looking at her husband. Zeus did not look back at her.

"Hermes, what do you have to say for yourself?" his dad asked.

"Daddy, I'm just a tiny little baby. How could I have done what Apollo is saying. Look at me, I'm still in my Mommy's arms," Hermes told his dad really laying it on thick.

"He lies," Apollo said raising his voice. "Look at this," he continued holding up the lyre in his hands. "This is proof that he has done what I said. These horns, these strings are from my cattle. He _has_ done this."

"Apollo please, I put him in his crib all bundled as a new born and you saw him. I fell asleep, and when I woke he was still bundled just the same," Maia protested.

"You three," Lord Zeus said now turning his attention to us. "What do you have to say about this matter?"

Tommy and Nicky both looked at me. I have no idea why. I decided I would tell the truth or at least not lie. I took one step forward out of respect then bowed to him. "Lord Zeus, we are from the future. I am Dani, this is Nicky, and this my brother Tommy," I said pointing out both boys. "We are doing a history report on your son Hermes. We came back in time to observe him for ourselves."

"Back in time," he said running his hand over his beard. "You expect me to believe this story."

Nicky took a step forward now, bowed then said, "She speaks the truth Lord Zeus. We are from the future."

"How far into the future?" he asked.

"About 5000 years sir," I told him.

"Maia, bring the boy to me," Zeus now told his baby momma (well what would you call her). Maia stepped forward and placed her son into the god's arms.

"Would you like to explain this to me?" Hera now said leaning over toward her husband.

"Not particularly," he said still not looking at her. He looked down into his baby son's face, caressed Hermes' cheek with his finger then said, "Son, I saw everything. You need to give Apollo his cows back."

"Awww," Hermes whined then jumped down from his father's arms and took the lyre from his brother's hands. He started to play it for the very first time. His playing was perfect, which I thought was amazing since I knew he had never played it before. He didn't even play it when he tuned it. Somehow he just knew each string was perfect I guess. He started singing, and honestly I can't remember all the words of his song, but I could pretty much tell he was making it up as he went along.

He was singing about his father and how glorious Zeus was. He sang about how beautiful his mommy, Maia, was. He added a few lines about how super smart his big brother Apollo was. Clearly he was trying to butter them all up, so his punishment wouldn't be too harsh. I just hoped that it would work for us as well. I started thinking about how when we visited Gilgamesh, his best friend Enkidu was killed as punishment for what the two of them did together because Gilgamesh was 3/4 god and couldn't be hurt. I started worrying that the three of us might be Hermes' Enkidu.

Apollo dropped down onto the floor next to his little brother when the music started. He didn't even let Hermes finish his song before he put his hand on his brother's little leg. "What is this blessed instrument?"

"It's a lyre," little Hermes told him then went back to playing it.

"It is the most wondrous sound I have ever heard. I must have it," Apollo told him.

"I thought you were mad at me," Hermes told him. "Why would you want an instrument I created using part of your cows?"

"I am the god of music, and you have created the most glorious instrument. I will forgive all that you have done if you will give me that lyre," his brother told him.

"Does that include my friends?" Hermes asked looking over at us.

"Well now, that will be up to me," Zeus said answering for his son.

"They did nothing but accompany me on my trip. Everything was my idea. All they did was keep me company and protect me," Hermes told his father.

"But they are guilty by association," his dad pointed out to him.

"How can I let humans get away with stealing from a god?" Zeus asked his newborn son.

"Who has to know?" Hermes said.

"I am sure they will not be able to keep their mouths shut," his dad replied.

"But we can," Tommy said, "We've done it before."

"You are saying that this is not your first brush with the law?" the king of the gods asked us.

"No, sir, Lord Zeus," I said. "We broke no laws when we went back in time the last time, but we did not tell anyone."

"You have done this before?" Zeus asked concerned.

"Once but it was not in Greece," I answered.

"Where was it?" the god asked, continuing the interrogation.

"Um, I'm not sure I should say. I don't think it's a good idea for you to know where these other people are at," I told him.

"I order you to tell me," Zeus commanded.

"Lord Zeus, if we found out there were other great gods in the world, and they wanted to know who you are and where you were at, would you really want us to tell them?" I asked him hoping he would say no.

"I am afraid of no one," Zeus boasted.

"I respectfully decline to tell you," I told him. At that point I figured even if I told him, he would then say we couldn't be trusted not to tell anybody else about them. Since it was a no win situation, I decided to keep my mouth shut. Nicky and Tommy each took one of my hands to show support.

"Daddy," Hermes said crawling over to his father, which I thought was a nice touch since I knew he could walk. "These are my friends. Please let them return home and do a report on me, even though I don't know what a report is."

"Apollo, what do you have to say about these three interlopers?" Zeus asked.

"What's an interloper?" Tommy whispered, and I shushed him. Hermes sat up and stuck his hands down his diaper at this point, and even though Apollo might literally be deciding our fate, I couldn't take my eyes off of the baby. He pulled out several pieces of what looked like bamboo. They were sticks of wood, but they were hollow in the center. We have bamboo in the side yard at home, so I was really familiar with what it looked like.

"If these mortals are not punished..." Apollo said when Nicky spoke up.

"We'll leave, Lord Apollo. No one ever needs to know we were here," he told the god. I was still watching Hermes. He had broken the sticks so that each one was a different length then he reached down his diaper again and pulled out more strips of cow intestines. He started weaving the strips around the sticks, so they were stuck together in a line. I started recognizing what it was, what was it called again, oh yeah, a pan pipe.

"If you can pop in and out at will, how do we know you won't come back?" Apollo was asking Nicky when Hermes started to play his new instrument. "What is that?" the god now asked turning his attention back to his baby brother.

"I can't live without music. I just gave you my lyre. I have to have something. I call it a pan pipe," baby Hermes told him.

"What do you want for that one?" his brother asked practically drooling on himself over the new instrument.

"What do I want?" Hermes said putting his little index finger to his chin. "Well I want my friends to go free..."

"Got it," Apollo said quickly.

"And..."

"Yes?"

"Can I have your staff. It's pretty sweet," Hermes said looking over at Tommy since he borrowed his word.

Apollo looked at his caduceus then back at the pan pipe in Hermes hand. "Fine, you can have it," he said and handed it over to his brother as Hermes handed the pipe over in exchange.

"Does this mean you aren't going to kill us?" Tommy asked Zeus.

"I suppose," the god said making it sound like he could always change his mind, which wasn't reassuring.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Lord Zeus gave us at least a glimmer of hope that we wouldn't be killed for helping his son, I took a step back. Nicky and Tommy followed my lead and stepped back as well. Zeus now called his baby son back over to him. He looked down at the boy with a stern face. "I do not like that you have lied to me Hermes." Hermes looked up at his daddy but didn't say anything. Zeus then smiled. "You have shown yourself to be quite cunning and resourceful however."

"Thank you," the little god said with slight bow to his father.

"As you have shown such skill with herding, I am going to make you the god of shepherds and herdsmen," Zeus continues.

"What?" Apollo says shocked since that was his title.

"Not to worry my son. I have bigger and better things in mind for you," his father told him. Queen Hera rolled her eyes. I got the distinct impression that she did not like Zeus' son, either of them. "I am making you the god of medicine."

"You mean I'm a doctor," Apollo said proudly standing a little straighter and puffing his chest out a little farther.

"I told you he would let it go to his head," Hera told her husband, but Zeus only smiled.

"Hermes," his father now continued. "I am in need of a very special helper. A messenger if you will. I am considering you, but I will need someone a bit more mature. Someone I can trust to deliver a message or a package and not lie."

Hermes transformed in front of our eyes. In a matter of seconds, he looked to be about the same age as his big brother Apollo. They looked about like Darnell, the kid who lives across the street from us that was on the varsity football team. He had blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a runner's body. He was cute, but not like his brother Apollo.

"I can be that for you, Father," he told his dad.

"You promise never to lie again?" Zeus asked.

"I promise never to lie to you again," Hermes agreed. Zeus seemed to be satisfied with that. I wondered if I was the only one who noticed that the god just gave himself an out for lying to everyone who was not Zeus.

"Then it is settled. Hermes, my son, you shall be my herald and take your place on the Olympian Council," his dad told him. Hermes nodded then looked over at us with a grin on his face that said, _told you I'd be an Olympian_.

It was at that moment that a young girl, maybe my age, entered the throne room. She was so beautiful, she made me feel like the most hideous thing in the room. Nicky and Tommy were, of course, both drooling over her. When I looked over, I noticed Hermes and Apollo were too.

"Father," she said sweetly. "Have you seen mother?" Hera frowned at the girl, so I knew instantly that she wasn't the Queen's daughter.

"Come my beautiful Persephone," Zeus said calling her over to him. When he said her name, I was stunned. I knew who Persephone was, or at least who she would become. I could understand how Hades would fall madly in love. She was adorable. "Persephone these are your brothers," her father continued.

"Hello," Apollo said smoothly stepping up and taking the girl's hand. "How would you like to join me for a picnic. I'm the god of medicine you know." Persephone blushed. Then Hermes stepped up and shoved his brother out of the way.

"You sure are cute," he told his sister. "I'm Hermes, the Herald of Zeus. Would you marry me?" I started laughing. Only a day old and he was already trying to get his sister to marry him.

"Hermes," Maia said, "I am not sure..."

"She doesn't want to marry you. I'm a much better catch," Apollo told him as he stepped in front of his brother.

"I'll race you for her," his brother suggested. Apollo looked at him like he was crazy.

Persephone looked up to her father as if to say, _may I really choose between the two of them. _I swear Zeus was about to tell her yes, when another woman, a bit older like Hera and Maia, charged into the room.

"There you are, Persephone. I thought I told you never to come in here bothering your father," the woman said sternly.

"But Mother, I was looking for you," Persephone said innocently.

"Demeter, these are my boys, Apollo and Hermes. They both seem to be interested in our daughter's hand," Zeus told the woman I now knew was his sister.

"They can both forget it," Demeter said grabbing her daughter's arm. "Come along sweetheart," she said then dragged Persephone out of the room.

"Can't you do something about that?" I asked. I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but I thought about Apollo and Hermes and how either one had to be much cuter then Hades. I know we agreed not to change history, but suddenly I wanted to spare the young goddess a fate tied to the Underworld.

"I beg your pardon," Zeus said looking at me.

"You're the king. Can't you make Demeter let Persephone choose between your sons?" I said.

"You don't know my sister very well," Zeus replied with a chuckle. "She can be very, how shall I say it, difficult."

"Maybe you should not have slept with her then," Hera told him flippantly.

"Maybe I should send you out of the room," he replied dismissively.

"Maybe I should..."

"Children," the god now said silencing her before she said anything inappropriate in front of us. "Sorry boys, but there are other young goddesses out there," he told his sons. If only he knew how wrong he was because neither of these two was ever going to marry, but I couldn't tell him that.

"Now where was I, oh yes, Hermes as my herald, I have gifts for you," his father said quickly regaining his baby son's attention.

"Gifts?" the young god said excitedly.

"First, I give you these winged sandals. They will assist you to deliver my messages very quickly."

"Sweet," Hermes said taking the shoes, sitting down on the floor and quickly putting them on his feet. Once they were laced up his legs, he stood and let them lift him off the ground. It took him no time at all to figure out how to control them. He flew around the throne room then landed at his father's feet again. "Thanks Dad," he said with a huge smile on his face.

"I also give you this hat," he father continued. It was a weird looking thing. It reminded me of was our old mail man, Mr. Willis. His hat had looked like something you'd wear on safari. Hermes' hat was like that, but his also had wings that sprouted from the sides.

"How do I look?" Hermes asked turning to look at the three of us. Nicky gave him a thumbs up. I have no idea if he knew what that meant. Tommy gave him a 'sweet'.

I decided that since he bothered to ask us, he deserved a little more than that. "It's an awesome look. Destine to be a real classic I think." He smiled broadly. And with that, Zeus seemed to be finished with all of us.

"I shall call on you when I need you," he told Hermes, "Oh, and Apollo, I did not make you the god of medicine just so you could go around playing doctor. I expect you to use it for good."

"Of course father," Apollo told him, but the smile on his face made it clear he would still use it to score girls.

We left the throne room to Hera nagging at her husband about his cheating on her, yet again.


	7. Chapter 7

Apollo took us back to Mount Cyllene in his chariot. I figured he'd take off as soon as we got back. Heck I figured we'd take off too, but that's not what happened. Maia invited us all into the cave to celebrate her son's birthday. She offered us bread, grapes and olives, it wasn't cake and ice cream, but it didn't matter. We were honored to be there.

Hermes played the pan pipe while his brother Apollo played the lyre. I was really surprised not only in how well Apollo played instantly but also in how well they played together without any practice. You would have thought they had been doing this for years. It was shaping up to be a very festive party.

Over the course of this quest, Nicky, Tommy and I hadn't talked anywhere near as much as we did in Sumer. On the other hand, we hadn't had any time alone this time either. Now that we were more relaxed, and even the gods seemed to be fine with us being there, we talked about all kinds of things.

"Lady Maia," I said taking a seat next to her on her bedding, "Was I really here last night?"

"You came to this very spot just after Lord Zeus left me," she confirms.

"I might have had a little something to do with that," Hermes says sounding a tiny bit embarrassed.

"How could you have done that? You had only just been conceived," his mom asked.

Hermes shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know how just know I did. It seemed right." Maia and I just looked at each other stunned.

"This Florida you speak of?" Maia now asked me.

"Oh, I can't really tell you much about that. It will be thousands of years before anyone in this part of the world knows about where we are from. I hope you understand why I can't say anything," I told her politely.

"I do," she said sweetly. "Sometimes it is better not to listen to the words of the Oracle."

"What?" Apollo said taking offense after overhearing that statement.

"I did not say always," Hermes' mom said calming him back down. "But there have been times when men and gods have made bad decisions out of fear brought on by misunderstanding a prophecy."

"Well when Prometheus and Epimetheus finish with this new batch of men father has ordered them construct, things will be different," Apollo tells her. Wanting to let the matter drop, she only smiled at him, but I could tell she didn't believe it. I, of course, knew there would be more of those bad decisions.

"So that man we met today, Battus, was he one of Prometheus' men?" Nicky asked.

"How do you know that Prometheus is working on the men?" Apollo asked him curiously.

"We're from the future, remember," Tommy said.

"So you could tell me everything that is going to happen?" Hermes asked salivating at the very thought.

"We could tell you a lot, but we won't. We promised each other not to share anything that could change the future," I told him.

"Besides little brother, you must not learn the ways of knowing the future. Father has forbidden anyone, even gods, to learn this skill. Only I may know it since I am the god of prophecy," Apollo said with an emphasis on _god of prophecy_ like this somehow made him extra special Apollo was kind of arrogant, but he was too cute for me to care about it.

"But I may know and must insist?" the archer said, and it sounded like a threat, but Nicky had the perfect reply.

"Lord Apollo, what if we were to come back in time to meet Kronos or Atlas, I know you would not want us to tell them what Zeus was going to do, or suppose we appeared at another point in the future and warned your enemy that you were coming? Surely you understand why we can't tell you."

"Young Nicky is correct Apollo. If father had known in advance and warned Kronos..." Maia started but didn't really need to finish. We all knew it would have been bad. "I would warn you against comin back to the time of Kronos however."

"Besides, you have your Oracle," I added. "Don't you trust her?"

"Of course," Apollo said defensively, and that pretty much ended to talk of tell anyone the future.

"So Lord Apollo, you sister Artemis, is she really hot?" Nicky now asked changing the subject.

"Many say that she is, but I do not see it," the god says smugly.

"That's just because she's your sister," Tommy told the god taking a seat next to him on the floor.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked. Apollo laughed then clapped my little brother on the back.

"I see you know exactly what I mean," he told Tommy who grinned broadly. "However, your sister is quite attractive," he continued while looking at me. I could feel my face heating up.

"With brothers like the two of you, I can see why Artemis would prefer the company of maidens," I said smartly.

"You can't blame that on me," Hermes protested. "I was just born."

"Bet she doesn't ask you to join her on the hunt," I told him with a grin. Hermes didn't get a chance to reply to that before his brother did.

"I know she won't ask you to join her," he laughed. Hermes looked at his mom like he wanted her to contradict his brother, but she only nodded.

"You mean you agree with him?" Hermes said in disbelief.

"My dearest son, Lady Artemis shuns the company of all men, and now that your father has found me, I shall no longer be welcome in her company either," Maia said sadly.

"Even though you were forced?" I asked angrily.

"Sadly, it will not matter to Artemis. Even if I am never again in the company of a man," Hermes' mom said.

"Well that sucks," Tommy said then quickly looked at me as if to say, _don't tell Mom I said that_. I grinned.

"Lady Maia," Tommy now asked, "Is your dad _really_ holding up the sky?"

"Yes, he really is," she told him. "It is his punishment for siding with the other Titans. Someone must keep Ouranos and Gaia apart."

"I thought Ouranos was killed by Kronos," I said wondering how he could still be in the picture.

"He was only castrated," she explained.

"Castrated?" Tommy said prompting me to think, _great who's going to explain that one?_

Hermes must have been reading my mind because he answered it. "He had his testicles chopped off, you know balls, family jewels."

"How do you know they're called all those things?" Nicky asked surprised.

"I am the god of communication. I know many names for many things," the newborn god said with a smile.

"Why do they have to be kept apart?" I asked a little confused. "If he was castrated, he and Gaia can't have any more children, can they?"

"Would you be willing to take that chance?" Apollo asked me. Given that all kinds of things happen in the Greek god stories that are unbelievable, I guess I wasn't willing to rule anything out.

"Guess not," I agreed.

"How hard was it for you to side with Lord Zeus instead of your father?" Nicky now asked Maia.

"It was very difficult. I love my father, but Lord Kronos was a cruel leader. Something had to be done to stop him," she explained. I thought about what she had just said. It wouldn't be hard at all for me to go to war against my dad, but my mom; I don't know if I could do it.

Hermes wondered off outside of the cave after the castration conversation. When he came back inside, he had several sticks in his hands. No one seemed to be paying him any mind at this point, but I was curious to see what he would do. He had already done so many things for a one day old, I figured anything was possible now. He laid all but one of the sticks down in a pile then picked up a knife and started scrapping the side of the remaining twig. I almost warned him to be careful with the knife, but since his appearance was now one of a teenager, I decided not to. In a couple of minutes, little puffs of smoke started wafting out from the stick. I didn't realize at the time he was actually inventing fire, I just thought he was a quick start in creating one. When flames started dancing along the twig, his mother noticed what he was doing.

"Hermes my love, what are you doing there?" she asked him as she took a seat next to where he was squatting.

"I going to call it fire," the young god told her holding it up for her to see. Not realizing it was hot, she reached out and touch the flame.

"Ouch," she says quickly pulling her fingers back.

"It's hot Mom," he said after the fact.

"What are you going to do with that?" his brother asked.

"Seriously?" my brother asked with a chuckle. Apollo just looked at him like it wasn't funny.

"Well I plan to use it to move herds around, but I suppose you could use it for all kinds of things." At this, Hermes put the burning stick down on the others in the pile and they all started to burn.

"Your father will be interested in this," Maia said hugging her son. "You are so very talented." Her son grinned.

"You'd better be careful who you show that little trick to. Dad won't want the mortal men being able to do it," his brother told him.

"Heck, fire is easy," Nicky boasted.

"You are a much smarter creature than the men Prometheus makes," the god replied.

Hermes, having created a fire in his mother's cave, pick up his staff and trotted off outside again. My ever curious brother called after him, "Lord Hermes, where are you going?"

"To see if these two snakes out here are still fighting," the god replied, "Come on." Of course we all took him up on that invitation.


	8. Chapter 8

Sure enough, there were two decent sized snakes, Nicky said they were pythons, coiling around each other as if they were trying to snuff each other out by constriction. Tommy squatted down on one side of them to get a closer look while Hermes did the same on the other side.

"Are you sure they aren't just making out?" Nicky asked looking over Hermes' shoulder.

"That's what it looks like to me," Apollo concurred.

"Naw, their fighting," Hermes insisted.

"You're not going to sit there and watch them kill each other are you?" I asked. Snakes are not my favorite creatures but still.

Hermes shrugged his shoulders then poked at them a couple of times with his staff. The snakes both seemed to react, so he put the stick down again and left it there. After a couple of seconds, both reptiles slithered around the pole and stopped fighting. "Look at that," Tommy laughed when the young god stood and lifted the staff up in the air.

"I command both of you to stay," Hermes told them. At this, the snakes seemed to become one with the staff. Hermes touched them with his finger then put the tip of the staff to his own lips. Now a white wing sprung from the sides of the staff just over each snake's head. "I like it," he grinned then passed the caduceus around for each of us to get a look at.

"Wow," Tommy said when it was his turn. "This is sweet."

Just as I got it, Hermes looked to the sky as if watching for something. A streak of lightning flashed across the horizon, and Hermes nodded. "I have to go," he said reaching for his staff. "Dad needs me. I'll be back." He took off running then lifted off the ground in flight.

"Is that how your father summons you guys?" Nicky asked Apollo.

"Usually," the god confirmed.

"How do you know he wanted Hermes and not you?" I asked curiously.

"Because he said he wanted Hermes," Apollo said as if that was a crazy question.

"You mean you heard him talking in that?" I continued.

"You didn't?" the god asked. I shook my head.

I was afraid that with Hermes gone that Apollo would leave too, but he didn't. We all went back inside the cave and sat back down.

Apollo took a seat next to Maia then asked, "My lady, do you know my mother?"

"We have met. She is my father's cousin. I do not know her well. We did not meet until I joined your sister's hunt. Father did not allow us to spend much time with the family," she tells him.

"What is your mom like?" Tommy asked Apollo.

"Mom is the most beautiful woman," Apollo answers then blushes. "I mean no disrespect to you Lady Maia," he then said.

"Every son should find his own mother the most beautiful, and your mother is very beautiful indeed," Maia told him placing her hand on his shoulder.

"What does she look like?" Nicky asked curiously.

"She has golden hair like my sister and I," the god answered.

"But your hair isn't blonde," Tommy pointed out to him.

"Oh, it normally is, but Dani prefers dark hair," he said glancing at me.

"Excuse me?" I said not understanding how he could know that.

"I sense things like that," Apollo said.

"So when you first showed up, you were trying to catch Dani's eye?" Nicky asked with a smile.

"I don't really do it on purpose," the god answered with a grin.

"So you're not vain?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm vain alright," he laughed.

"So Lord Apollo," Nicky asked, "Do you have a girlfriend, because Dani thinks you're cute." The god laughed heartily while I smacked Nicky but good across the back of his head.

"I have a couple of kids," he said with a smile, "But no steady girl." He was now looking at me like he was considering the idea. Lady Maia, sensing how embarrassed I was, saved me.

"You seem so young Apollo to have children," she told him.

"Well you know," he blushed.

"So what are their names?" I asked keeping the subject off of me.

"I have two sons Linus and Eleuther," he said proudly.

"So do they live with their mom?" Tommy asked assuming they had the same one.

"Yes, but not the same mother. Linus is my boy with Calliope, she's a muse. Eleuther is my son with Aethusa, she is a daughter of Poseidon," he explained.

"Isn't Poseidon your uncle," Tommy asked like _how could he have a kid with his cousin_.

"Yes and Calliope is a daughter of Zeus," he answered.

"You mean your Dad!" Tommy said in shock.

"There's only one Zeus," Apollo said like it's no big deal.

"That's gross," Tommy said looking a little green.

"Who else am I supposed to date? The only females around right now are family," the god said.

"Still," Tommy said leaving it at that.

I was surprised when Hermes then walked back into the cave. I figured he'd be gone way longer.

"What did your father want?" Lady Maia asked when he rejoined us.

"He wanted me to help Hephaestus with a project he's working on," Hermes said like it was no big deal.

"And?" Tommy asked not letting the young god get away with not telling us more.

"He's making a woman..."

"And what, he wanted to model her after you since you look like a girl?" his brother laughed.

"No!" Hermes said grinning at the ribbing he was taking from his big brother. "I had to give her the ability talk. God of communication you know," he continued with a proud smile. "He also said they didn't want her to be perfect, so I taught her how to lie and told her a few dirty jokes."

"Hermes," his mom said like she was disappointed in him.

"Don't blame me it's what Dad wanted," her son says. "So what did you guys talk about while I was gone?"

"Nicky is trying to fix Dani up with Apollo," Tommy said earning a dirty look from me.

"I didn't know you were looking to be fixed up," Hermes said looking at me. "I'm available."

"I'm not looking to be fixed up," I insisted.

"Oh, so you like Nicky," Apollo said looking at my best friend.

"What?" Nicky said choking on the grape he just popped into his mouth. I had to laugh. He looked like he did when I walked in on him when he was, well you know. He insisted that's not what he was doing, he only had an itch, but I knew better.

"It's obvious that the two of you..." Apollo said waving his index finger between the two of us.

"You're crazy," Nicky said.

"Or you need lessons from Aphrodite on love, because we're not like that," I agreed.

"Methinks thou doth protest too much," Hermes said.

"What?" I said looking at him strangely because he just quoted William Shakespeare. I saw the movie Hamlet. Trust me, the play is way above my FCAT reading level.

"What?" Hermes responded wondering what he'd said.

"Nothing," I told him. I didn't want to have to try to explain it.


	9. Chapter 9

We stayed around talking a little longer, but eventually, Lady Maia insisted that her baby needed to get some sleep. Hermes complained, of course, that he was grown and didn't need sleep.

"You are one day old, my love. Even baby gods need their sleep," she told him putting her arms around him.

"Yeah, I should get going too," Apollo now told us, much to my disappointment. I didn't have a crush on him, but he had been fun to hang out with.

"Are you children returning to your own time now?" the Titaness asked as she was putting her son to bed.

"I think we should," Nicky answered. "I'm not sure it would be too safe to hang around much longer."

"I don't think Dad would be happy if he knew you were still here," Apollo agreed.

"It's been really sweet hangin' with you guys," Tommy then told them.

"So, I was meaning to ask," Apollo said flashing a smile at me. Okay, so maybe I did have a crush on him after all. "Are you sure you won't share anything from the future?"

Tommy started to open his mouth like he was going to lay some mythology on the god until I flashed him a big sister warning look. It was Nicky who finally said something.

"I still say since you're the god of prophesy, you should already know what's going to happen."

Apollo's smile got even bigger. "It doesn't actually work that way," he said. "But maybe it's better not to know."

I wanted to tell him not to play discus with a boy named Hyacinth or chase after a pretty girl named Daphne. I wanted to say that no matter what, do not go along with Hera when she wants to chain up her husband. Mostly I wanted to warn him that when he has a son who wants proof that Apollo is his dad, to watch what he offers the boy as proof. I wanted to keep him from experiencing some of the heartbreak I knew he would face, but, of course, I couldn't warn him about any of it. "It was really nice meeting all of you," I told them trying to hold back a tear.

"If you guys ever want to come hang out again," Hermes called from his bed.

"Thanks, I'd like that," Tommy told him.

"I would like to thank each of you for looking after my son for me today," Maia told us giving each of us a big hug.

"He really didn't need us," I said, "But it was our pleasure."

"Hey, Lord Apollo, tell your sister I said hi," Nicky then said with a grin.

"Trust me, Artemis is not into boys," the god said with a laugh.

"She's a lesbian?" Tommy asked. My heart sank. I thought for sure Apollo was going to get upset over the question, but he didn't.

"No, she's not a lesbian," he answered. "Like I said before, she just insists that she is going to be a maiden forever. I have no idea why. I think she's crazy. She could steal any guy from any goddess, even Aphrodite. Since she said it though, I'm going to make her stick to it. If I ever find out she likes a guy..." The god didn't finish that thought, and it made me wonder if it really was him that killed Orion the Hunter.

"We should go," I said before either of the boys could say anything else stupid.

When we got outside of the cave, Nicky said, "That was awesome."

"I agree, but we'd better get out of here before anyone else sees us," I said, and we started the incantation that we knew would get us back to our time.

"The history we sought to live

Has reach its full conclusion

Return us to our time and place

Without so much confusion"

Next thing we knew, we were back at our kitchen table in Sarasota. The spin cycle was going on the washing machine which indicated that we hadn't been gone from _our time_ any longer than one cycle of the washer.

"We should start writing," Nicky said looking at me.

"Oh no you don't. I wrote the last one. It's your turn," I told him pointing at my laptop sitting in front of him on the table. He grumbled, but eventually he started to type. Tommy and I added details to his story, and I was the one who had to come up with the hook, thesis statement, and decide on the three main details, naturally.

When it was done, we printed a copy so our mom and Nicky's dad could proofread it for us when they got home. Mom suggested that we double check some of our facts because it sounded so unbelievable, but I reminded her it was mythology, even though the three of us knew better. After dinner, Nicky's dad told us it was great, probably another A+. Like last time, we gave Tommy credit on our report since he helped every step of the way, but this time he took it to his teacher himself and showed it to her. She again let him read it to his classmates. Most of the younger kids, unlike with Gilgamesh, knew who Apollo was and of course Zeus. Even if they hadn't heard of Hermes, they recognized some of his symbols.

As soon as we turned our paper in the next Monday, Mr. Reed started to read it. I guess after the last time, he was anxious to see how we would do. When he started to smile, I knew he liked it. Unlike Mom, he didn't question any of the "facts" we reported. The next day, we got our paper back. Nicky's dad was right, another A+.


End file.
